Heated windshield



F. A. HEALY HEATED WINDSHIELD Filed April 1, 1924 INVENTOR. Flora A. ifea/y A TTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 7,1924.

UNITED STATES- PATENT "OFFIE.

FLORA A. HEALSLOF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT.

HEATED wmnsnmnn.

Application fiIed' April 1,

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLORA A. HEALY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of .l/Vallingford, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heated Windshields, of which the following is a.

specification.

This invention relates to glass Windshields.

for automobiles, trolley cars. locomotives,

and the like, and more particularly to a heated windshield'for preventing the accumulation of moisture in the form of mist,

frost, etc., which might interfere with the clear vision of the driver.

One object of this invention is to provide a heated windshield of the above nature comprising a double-walled glass compartment rovid'ed with interior heating means to'mamtain the glass anes-of the windshield at a relatively high temperature.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature having means to prevent the heat of the heating element fromdirectly radiating upon the glass surfaces, in order to prevent the possibility-of cracking due to overheating.

'A further object is to provide a heated windshield which will be simple, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install, and very efiicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying'drawing, the preferred form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied" in ractice. 1g. 1 represents a front view of an v electrically heated windshield, with certain parts broken away for clearness.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of oneside of said windshield showing the manner in which the electric heating element is mounted and shielded from the glass panes.

Fig.- 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig: 1, looking in the direction 1 of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of an ice scraping device for assisting the operation of said heated windshield.

Referring now to the drawings in which" like reference numerals denote correspond ing parts throughout the several viewsfthe numerals 10 and 11 indicate respectively thefront and rear glass panes of the windshield. The glass panes 10' and 11 are supported by 1924. Serial No. 703,508.

a frame comprising a top member 12, side members 13 and 15 and a bottom member 15, said members being preferably of woody andT-shaped in cross-section, as more clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing;

A pair of rectangular frames 16and 17 of thin metal are attached to the front and rear of the wooden frames, just described, in any suitable manner, as by screws 18. I A series of four cylindrical porcelain tubes 19, 20, 21 and 22, serve to sup ort within.

the frame, an electric heating e ement con sisting of-a wire 23 of nichrome or other suitable material, said wire being wound'in helical form about the exterior of said tubes.

The terminalsofthe wire 23 are connected to a pair of binding posts 24 and 25, re-

spect ively, said posts passing vertically down through the lower frame member 15, said terminals being held upon washers 26 by means of nuts 27 threaded on the insidev portions ofsaid posts.

In order to supply electric current to the heating element just described, a pair; of conductors 28 and 29 are provided, said conductors being connected to a suitable source :of current, such as a storage battery, inagneto, etc., and also being connected tothe binding posts 24 and 25. The terminals of" the wires 28 and 29 are adapted to-be seated upon washers '30 and *31, and are clamped tightly against said; washers by knurled binding nuts 32 andS'B respectively. I

by side'strips 37 and 38 of asbestos, whereby the danger ,of cracking the glass by. overheating will be entirely prevented. r

In order to provide ventilation for the interior of the double-walled compartment,

2. pair of ventilation holes 39 and 40 re" lspectively are provided in the top and bottom frame members 12 and 15. By means of this construction air will continuously be drawn in through the hole 40, and will pass upwardly through the heated compartment and out through the hole 39, thereby preventing the air in said compartment from overheating the glass panes. If desired, a thermostat may be employed to automatically shut off the-current in case the temperature becomes too high.

It may be desirable in some cases to assist the action of the heated glass panes by mechanically operatedmeans. For this purpose, the device illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4-may be employed and comprises a vertical metallic scraper 41 having asharpened edge 42 adapted to liein contact with the front surface of the pane 10 of the Windshield; The scraper 41 is provided at its end with an enlarged tapped collar 43, threaded upon a horizontal screw 44 extending the full length of the windshield, and journaled in the brackets 45 and 46 located at the opposite ends thereof.

The scraper 41 is adapted to be held in firm contact with the surface of the glass pane 10 by means of a resilient leaf spring 47 attached to the top of the collar 43 by means of screws 48. The horizontal screw 44 has. one endextending beyond the bracket 46 and provided with a bevel gear 49, meshing with a gear 50 on the upper end of a vertical shaft 51 mounted to rotate in hearing brackets 52,said vertical shaft 51 being driven intermittently in opposite directions by any suitable mechanism not shown.

In operation when the current is turned on by a switch, not shown, the wire 23, coiled upon the shielded porcelain tubes, will become heated causing the air within the double-walled windshield to warm-up and heat the glass panes 10 and 11. The size of the ventilation holes 39 and 40, and the amount of current sent through the wire 23 are madesuch as'to maintain the glass panes 10 and 11 at the most efiicient temperature without overheating.

Under ordinary conditions, the scraper 41 will not be necessary, but when it is needed, as to remove excessive accumulations of ice, in a storm, the intermittent rotation of the shaft 51 will cause the screw 44 to move the scraper 41 back and forth along the front of the windshield-this operation being entirely automatic.

While there-have been disclosedin this specification two forms in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these forms are shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without de-,

parting from its irit. In short, the invention includes al the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of 1 shield of channel form in which said tubes are disposed with the web of the channel between said frame and tubes.

In testimony whereof, I have aifixed signature tothis specification.

FLORA A. HEALY.

described the inven 

